I play ecelctic genres of music... everything from classic rock to clean ambient and black metal. When it comes to guitars, I am incredibly picky and am willing to spend what it takes to get what I want. My Les Paul budget was $15,000.
After playing over 100 Les Pauls of all eras and configurations, the best guitar (for me) that I found was a 1979 Les Paul Custom. I purchased it this evening after spending about five hours putting it through its paces and comparing to other guitars (Les Pauls, PRS, ESP Custom Shop). Nothing sounded as big, heavy, rich, and alive as this particular 1979. It's a heavy one (haven't weighed it yet, but it's between 11 and 13 pounds for sure), but it is an endless cavern of resonance and tone. No matter how hard one tries, one cannot pull all the tone that this thing's got out of it. It has gorgeous crisp cleans (not muddy at all like some of the lighter mahogany-necked Les Pauls I played) and an absolutely massive wall-of-sound response when played with any amount of gain. Harmonics fly off the fingerboard. The strings are looser feeling than usual as well... With 9-42 strings some of the Les Pauls I tried had a tighter feeling and some were looser. This one feels like it has 8's on it when it has 9's. So comfortable to play. The neck is narrow/compact and not too thick (though thicker than a 60 RI). In a high gain setting (for example, through a Mesa F50 or Engl Fireball) it sounds identical to Euronymous's Les Paul on Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas… absolutely brutal and huge while not being too dark or muddy. Even on lower gain amps this particular Les Paul sounds more metal than rock, unlike the others I tried. The pickups and hardware are original but chrome plated- not gold. The pickups respond as if they are higher output than a typical PAF even though they have the same sort of tone... Don't really know how to describe it. Anyway, I've attached some photos and can't wait to record with this one! Shame that it doesn't have a black or sunburst finish, but the tone is more important than the looks.
After playing over 100 Les Pauls of all eras and configurations, the best guitar (for me) that I found was a 1979 Les Paul Custom. I purchased it this evening after spending about five hours putting it through its paces and comparing to other guitars (Les Pauls, PRS, ESP Custom Shop). Nothing sounded as big, heavy, rich, and alive as this particular 1979. It's a heavy one (haven't weighed it yet, but it's between 11 and 13 pounds for sure), but it is an endless cavern of resonance and tone. No matter how hard one tries, one cannot pull all the tone that this thing's got out of it. It has gorgeous crisp cleans (not muddy at all like some of the lighter mahogany-necked Les Pauls I played) and an absolutely massive wall-of-sound response when played with any amount of gain. Harmonics fly off the fingerboard. The strings are looser feeling than usual as well... With 9-42 strings some of the Les Pauls I tried had a tighter feeling and some were looser. This one feels like it has 8's on it when it has 9's. So comfortable to play. The neck is narrow/compact and not too thick (though thicker than a 60 RI). In a high gain setting (for example, through a Mesa F50 or Engl Fireball) it sounds identical to Euronymous's Les Paul on Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas… absolutely brutal and huge while not being too dark or muddy. Even on lower gain amps this particular Les Paul sounds more metal than rock, unlike the others I tried. The pickups and hardware are original but chrome plated- not gold. The pickups respond as if they are higher output than a typical PAF even though they have the same sort of tone... Don't really know how to describe it. Anyway, I've attached some photos and can't wait to record with this one! Shame that it doesn't have a black or sunburst finish, but the tone is more important than the looks.
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